Settlement for Blood Poisoning Tragedy

The family of a Staffordshire woman who died after a GP failed to diagnose that she had blood poisoning has received an out-of-court settlement.

Josephine Brindley, a 36-year-old mother of two, visited her doctor shortly after injuring her shoulder in an accident at work. She later started to feel unwell and over the next few days her condition worsened. She attended an out-of-hours GP clinic at Cannock Hospital, where she complained of extreme nausea and that the painkillers she was taking were not working. The locum GP diagnosed a reaction to the painkillers and prescribed different ones.

The next day, however, Mrs Brindley’s condition continued to worsen. Her husband took her to Mid-Staffordshire General Hospital, but the hospital staff were unable to save her and she died of septic shock.

The family brought a personal injury claim against the South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust, alleging that there had been a failure of patient care. If the blood poisoning had been diagnosed earlier, treatment with antibiotics would probably have saved Mrs Brindley’s life.

The Trust did not admit liability for the accident but agreed to pay an undisclosed sum in settlement of the claim, part of which is for Mrs Brindley’s two children.